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September 7, 2008

Pilots Rap ‘Ice’ Crash

by Sam Savage

By PAUL LEWIS

WORRIED airline pilots have cast doubt on an official report that ice triggered the crash of a British Airways jet at Heathrow.

Investigators say the "probable" cause of a terrifying loss of power as the Boeing 777 landed in January was ice in the plane's fuel system. But they admit it has never happened in 6.5 million flying hours by the 777. And their interim findings were met with scepticism by many pilots.

One said: "If you believe ice brought it down you believe anything."

Another wrote on a respected professional pilots' website: "Blaming icing by itself seems unlikely. The 747SP flew up to 45,000 feet for 26 hours routinely for 30 years without problem."

The People has revealed how an antiterror bomb jammer fitted to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's car was feared to have disrupted the jet's controls as it descended just feet over the PM's motorcade. Noone was seriously hurt.